So, as much as can be gained from the literature of the time, I have difficulty finding out something that intrigues me, namely the pill popping culture of the 1950s. My dad, when he was young, told me of codeine drinkers (the purple slurpers of today), and it seems to me that codeine was the pain pill people would abuse...was there higher concentrations during this period (I have no question marks, so I will instead use %). Also, how difficult was it to score pharms during this period (both through croakers and through the streets% was it a popular thing% what other pills, specifically opiates, where available)%

Anyway, any info would be greatly appreciated, even if you can refer me to articles or books. I know this post may fit DC or another forum, but since most of you guys know your stuff, I imagine I would be better suited posing this question here...

-Swybs

batailleseyes

18-02-2005, 04:21

Check out this site: http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/9/1/62#MARKS-2001
go down to the reference section... that should give you a good start. Good luck, have fun.

JTMarlin

18-02-2005, 04:26

The 1950's (actually, up until about 1965) were probably the last decade of basically legal drugs, with very little restrictions on their sale. Until 1956 amphetamines were available OTC, and I forget the year for barbiturates. D/L-methamphetamine was excluded from the inhaler ban and was available in inhalers OTC until the mid-1960's. With that said...ALL the names of ALL available pills at the time that will never be known nowadays. I can do my best to list quite a few, since I have a bunch of old advertisements on my computer.

You had:

Amphetamines:
-Biphetamine was 50% amphetamine and 50% dextroamphetamine, in a time release resin complex known as "black beauties".
-Benzedrine, which was amphetamine sulfate. They came in Spansules, tablets, and liquid...same goes for the next two.
-Dexedrine, which was dextroamphetamine sulfate.
-Dexamyl was Dextroamphetamine and Amobarbital (Dexedrine+Amytal).
-Eskatrol was Dexedrine and Compazine (a tranquilizer), and only came in Spansules (anything with Benzedrine or Spansule is made by the same company...Smith Kline & French).
-Edrisal was Benzedrine and Aspirin.
-Desoxyn Gradumets were time-released methamphetamine.
-Desbutal was methamphetamine and pentobarbital (Desoxyn+Nembutal).
-Ambar was methamphetamines and phenobarbital.
-Amphedroxyn was methamphetamine hcl, in pills and liquid.
-Appetrol was dextroamphetamine and meprobamate (Equanil, a tranquilizer)
-Coricidin Forte was a buncha stuff, caffeine and methamphetamine (like 2.5mg)
-Efroxine was methamphetamine tablets and elixir.
-Norodin was methamphetamine.
-Obedrin was vitamins, pentobarbital, and methamphetamine.
-Raphetamine was amphetamine phosphate, came in injectable liquid and tablets.
- Ritalin doesn't need explaining.
-Syndrox was methamphetamine.

and "non-barbiturate" tranquilizers that were just as addictive, such as Miltown, Mebaral, Placidyl, Quaalude, Ultran, Premo, Doriden, and Thorazine (major tranquilizer).

Also, there were painkillers such as Demerol, Dilaudid, Methadone, Numorphan (oxymorphone), Levorphan, Dromoran, and Percodan.

I'm not in my fifties, and have never seen any of these drugs (except Dexedrine), by the way. Can't tell you how they were as far as effects go, but if I could go back in time I'd definately buy a lot of Desbutal, Dexamyl, Benzedrine, Amytal, and Tuinal.

nenarOPI

18-02-2005, 23:47

I would LOVE to give any (meth)amphetamine/barbiturate combo pill a try.. namely Desbutal

crazyface

19-02-2005, 00:14

why so many speed/tranq combos? theres probly some sort of synergistic effect (speedball-esque) but it still seems like youre defeating the purpose of both drugs with each other.

~crazyface

karloff123

19-02-2005, 00:26

My Aunt got hooked on Heroin in 1949......she told me when smack was not available or when she wanted to come down "Cold Turkey" she would eat codeine tabs....also she would eat or shoot dillaudid tabs....and then there was always paragoric to drink, which you could buy at any drug store.......Percoset and Percodan came along in the early 60's.....Morphine tabs like MScontin were not on the market until 1985 and Oxycontin didn't appear until 1996.........boy are we lucky!

swybs

19-02-2005, 00:26

what about opiates/oids from this era, how did people score them (same, traditional way as now)? Also, was it a scene or just random (I would imagine) rich or middle class, since dope was around at the time, and I would think people would travel that route...though, I wonder how crazy the dope scene was back then (eg, what was the difficulty in scoring, etc).

thanks for the informative answers, thus far.

swybs

karloff123

19-02-2005, 00:35

My aunt got hooked hanging around Jazz musicians in the late 40's and early 50's in San Francisco.....she said back then only the "Hep cats" got high on smack....the "cats" were Jazz musicians and there followers.....also those in the "Beat Generation" or "Beatniks" a forerunner of the "Hippies" in the 60's. Either you were "Hep" or you were not....it was closed, selective society......you had to be there to understand I suppose. It was strangely a status symbol to be on smack among your peers....those were the times.............

Riemann Zeta

19-02-2005, 00:40

Thorazine (chlorpromazine) was not an addictive sedative / hypnotic (i.e. "mother's little helper") in the 1960s. It was--and still is--used as an antipsychotic for emergency cases of acute manic and/or paranoid psychosis. However, today, haloperidol (Haldol) is much more popular for emergency use and of course, so-called 'atypicals' are the only antipsychotics really prescribed. Chlorpromazine is an antagonist at just about every receptor associated with alertness/movement/sympathetic response, that is, the dopamine D2 & D3 receptors, the 5-HT2A receptor, the histamine H1 receptor and the alpha1 adrenoreceptor. It is a strongly dysphoric compound and was used most infamously as a "chemical straighjacket" for mentally ill individuals in the 1960s.

Biphetamine...that is an interesting one. I think it was known as Obetrol and was (as you said) 50% (d)-amphetamine and 50% (dl)-amphetamine, meaning 75% (D) enantiomer and 25% (L) enantiomer. This drug is still around today, however, it now known under the wildly popular brand Adderall. The company took Obetrol off the market and then "introduced" Adderall (identical formulae) when ADHD was starting to be diagnosed in masse.

tramagesty

19-02-2005, 06:47

Read the book "junky" by william s burroughs. He speaks of scoring morphine ampules and hypo tabs both off the street, from any number of crooked/old/foreign drs, and going down to mexico, where apparently you could get some sort of permit that allowed you to get some large quantity of morphine from the gvmt every month. (or something like that...been a while since I read the book.) I've been fortunate enough to try Dexamyl (d-amp & amobarbital (I think) combo.) It was quite a nice combo. while I still got the nice, euphoric energized effects of the amphetamine, the barb eliminated all the unpleasant side effects. I believe that they were rx'd to bored housewives as an antidepressant. The barb was there to take the edge off the amphetamine. There was, of course, some synergistic action there as well...If you do a search for "the american gallery of psychiatric art" you should find, assuming it's still up, all sorts of drug ads from the 50's and 60's. mostly for benzos, barbs, and amphetamines. I believe that the Dexamyl ad has a characture of a stereotypical 50's house wife enthusiastically vacuuming with a huge smile on her face. Good times, the 50's.

johnnyb420

19-02-2005, 11:56

in my humble opinion william s burroughs was an absolute genius the book junky should be required reading in high school.
i read it as a seventh grader, and lets just say it changed some things for me. for the better ? i do not know but it is great reading thirty years later i still pick it up read it now and then

johnnyb

"Language is a virus..."

"We must find out what words are and how they function.
They become images when written down,
but images of words repeated in the mind
and not of the image of the thing itself."
- W.S. Burroughs

crazyface

19-02-2005, 18:49

Originally posted by tramagesty
I believe that the Dexamyl ad has a characture of a stereotypical 50's house wife enthusiastically vacuuming with a huge smile on her face. Good times, the 50's.

i looked at some of those ads and some from the japanese gallery of psychiatric art. its funny to think how much things have changed in the last fifty years. its probably better for society to not be pro-drugged up all the time but like you said they were good times and selfishly i would like it to be that easy to get high. i wonder what the attitudes toward prescription drugs will be like 50 years in the future? i think more acceptance of reacreation usage but a continuance of the trend away from the prescribing of such drugs for every hurt feeling and itchy ass.

~crazyface

edit- seems like a "drug culture" thread but thats the mods buisiness

batailleseyes

19-02-2005, 19:02

I don't think you could ever get "Junky" into a highschool Lit. class, but I did teach it at the University level. And yes, the poster would do well by himself to give it a read.

crazyface

19-02-2005, 19:36

site with ads for early cociane and opiate products, some early amphetamines too.

http://wings.buffalo.edu/aru/preprohibition

TexasAKS

19-02-2005, 20:48

Originally posted by crazyface
site with ads for early cociane and opiate products, some early amphetamines too.

http://wings.buffalo.edu/aru/preprohibition

Thanks for the link.. that was rather interesting. I had no idea and had honestly never thought about the history of drug use and the using social circles.. thanks ya'll for the reading material.

nephron

19-02-2005, 20:52

I know my mother used to take some sort of amphetamine every weekend to fuel her home-renovation urges. :P

CreativeRandom

19-02-2005, 21:12

Qualoades or something like that, was very popular. Why isn't it popular anymore? All the sudden the high isn't fun anymore??

Methaqualone or something like that.

crazyface

20-02-2005, 05:28

Yep, quaaludes. they were a barb like depressant from what i hear. if youve ever seen Almost Famous the character of pennylane ods on them in that hotel room.

i was really interested to find out about the methamphetamine in japan post world war two. the japanese military was of course fueling its soldiers on meth (even...well i dont know about "even"... Hitler got daily injections). but when the war ended there were warehouses full of meth and no one taking it, it was sold to the public en masse and japan had a crazily high meth addiction rate following the war.

edit-researched at http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/amp04.htm

japan now- "15,000-25,000 arrests per year amongst an estimated 1-2.2 million users" thats about one in a hundred japanese people being meth users!

after prohibitionizing them in 1952 the 50s saw "as many as 55,000" arrests per year. seems like alot to me

nephron

20-02-2005, 11:26

I'd think quaaludes aren't as popular 'cause they aren't prescribed as much (at all?) any more, and since it's hard to get pharmaceutical company produced versions, it's probably quite hard to make in a lab, and so it's fallen into disuse. As a guess.

troublemaker_420

20-02-2005, 11:47

I don't believe quaaludes are even made anymore. I know they are not available by prescription in the US anymore, and I believe that thye may have been taken off the market entirely, although I did read somewhere they were still made in SOuth Africa. Of course, wether this it true or just someone's wishful thinking, I don't know

The Young Geezer

20-02-2005, 11:50

they are illegally manufactured (a-la mdma, pressed pills), in South Africa, Southeast african countries and places like Pakistan and middle east countries

blahblahblah

21-02-2005, 00:07

Read Money on my Back its goes into the 60's-70'd and expalins what was out there in that time frame. Not quite the 50's but it gives a glimpse into the past.

Search: Monkey on my Back

JTMarlin

21-02-2005, 08:06

Go here if you want to see some really really funny ads for drugs (especially the Thorazine one, which is why I mentioned it): http://www.decodog.com/inven/medical.html

As far as Biphetamine vs. Adderall, they're completely different. Adderall used to be Obetrol. Biphetamine was Biphetamine. It's a capsule (Biphetamine 12.5 - 12.5mg black and white capsule and Biphetamine 20 - 20mg all black capsule, aka "black beauties"). They were a Polistirex (sp?) amphetamine time-released resin, like that DXM cough syrup they still sell nowadays that lasts 12 hours no matter what you do to it. From what I've read, they were VERY strong and did indeed last atleast 12 hours. It was amphetamine and dextroamphetamine sulfate. Obetrol (Adderall) is amphetamine sulfate, amphetamine saccharate, d-amphetamine sulfate, and d-amphetamine tatrate. This makes a big difference as far as brand name/rights go (and effects I'm sure...sulfate probably hits a lot better, I hate Adderall and love Dexedrine). Johnny Cash said they were the best of the best compared to Dexamyl and Dexedrine. He used to take Thorazine to knock himself out after being up a few days (just like Seroquel today), so I mentioned it even though it has no recreational value. Biphetamine-T was Biphetamine combined with Quaalude, but it was only on the market for a few months in the late '70s.

Heroin and other opiates weren't that popular in the 50's/60's because there was, honestly, no reason for them to be. It was not only rare, but the stuff was like 3% purity. It was also VERY illegal and the penalties were worse than today. Junk was seen as the worst of the worst, even in drug circles. Why take illegal, low-quality heroin when you can get all the amphetamines and barbiturates you want for extremely low prices? They're substitutes in the economic sense, which was the reason heroin wasn't popular then (same goes for painkillers like oxycodone/hydrocodone/oxymorphone, etc...).

Barbiturates and amphetamines combined create more euphoria while removing the side-effects like drowsiness and jitters that come from the two. Unlike benzos, barbs have euphoria (again, from what I've read...basically alcohol in a powder), don''t cancel eachother out, and are potentiated by amphetamines. Methaqualone was only academically different than short-acting barbiturates in effects, and even worse in some aspects like addiction/withdrawals.

I'd say that the 1950s were the best period in history for getting legal drugs. I think because it was in between the "old" (heroin, coke, morphine, etc...) and "new" (Prozac, Valium, etc...) drug periods, when little was known about highly recreational new substances. You couldn't get legal cocaine or heroin, because there were better and newer things to be had. This is why noone really discusses opiates. The 1970's Controlled Substances legislation changed this all.

Synapse999

21-02-2005, 08:42

alcohol in a powder" - - - when people talk about benzos and not remembering the night before yeah...or slurring when oded.

but in no way, would i think of it that way.

benzos and amphetamines don't cancel eachother out either, but it does take out unwanted side effects from eachother like barbs.

benzos skim the lines of being considered a minor tranq and a minor barb.

xanax and dexedrine is amazing, for that fact i can see how the barb/amp combo had to be the love life back then.

johnny cash would be ashamed if he tryed adderall passed off as an equal to dex ;p
i can't tolerate it in least bit, the dex there is never enough of, even when your swimming in it :D

CreativeRandom

21-02-2005, 09:57

"japan now- "15,000-25,000 arrests per year amongst an estimated 1-2.2 million users" thats about one in a hundred japanese people being meth users! " -crazyface

Is that alot? 1 in every hundred japanease people being an active meth user (i'm assuming by user, you meant active, not just someone who tried it)? Look how crazily dense the population is in Japan anyways.... And was it a city thing or a rural thing...or everywhere thing? And 1 to 2.2 million seems like a BIG gap.

Though, I remember when I visited Japan, a family friend and I got into a very cool and interesting conversation, and she told me about her friend who came over jacked on meth and seeing shit, acting crazy, et cetera.

Japan = meth and shrooms, while insane crazy prices for hash, and bud if you found that.

On a different note, has anyone tried quaaludes? Can you describe the experience?

JTMarlin

21-02-2005, 23:55

Originally posted by Synapse999
johnny cash would be ashamed if he tryed adderall passed off as an equal to dex ;p
i can't tolerate it in least bit, the dex there is never enough of, even when your swimming in it :D

Reread what I said: Biphetamine was better than Dexedrine. Obetrol was shit, nobody took the stuff. It was strictly a diet pill (all amphetamines were, but it was more so), that's why I hate Adderall...the weight loss/anorectic effects are terrible. That's why it's still around, while the stuff that was good all disappeared (except Dexedrine, since it has no barbiturates and won't give you a heart attack like Benzedrine, which was half l-amphetamine or double Adderall's side-effects).

Benzos are tranquilizers in that you take a valium by itself and it just chills you out. Alcohol, on the other hand, not only chills you out (relaxes your muscles) but it also has euphoria when drunk by itself. That's the difference in barbs and benzos: euphoria, OD potential, and dosage. Just like alcohol.

Synapse999

22-02-2005, 05:09

Originally posted by JTMarlin
Reread what I said: Biphetamine was better than Dexedrine. Obetrol was shit, nobody took the stuff. It was strictly a diet pill (all amphetamines were, but it was more so), that's why I hate Adderall...the weight loss/anorectic effects are terrible. That's why it's still around, while the stuff that was good all disappeared (except Dexedrine, since it has no barbiturates and won't give you a heart attack like Benzedrine, which was half l-amphetamine or double Adderall's side-effects).

Benzos are tranquilizers in that you take a valium by itself and it just chills you out. Alcohol, on the other hand, not only chills you out (relaxes your muscles) but it also has euphoria when drunk by itself. That's the difference in barbs and benzos: euphoria, OD potential, and dosage. Just like alcohol.

yeah i understood what you meant by biphetamine. i wasnt refering to that in that quote. er. just made a cracked out statement about how adderall sucked. I don't remember..i was out of my head.

But really, most of the sources i have read on amphetamines with old barbs. had been that they were downers... the first speedball of sorts.
Some would use it becaues barbs knock them out, others mixed the two as a dangerous combo. opposed to benzos.
As far as euphoria, thats a crazy arguementive word.... the feeling that can run threw you with xanax..if it aint euphoria. then its quite a chill. ;p

But should defintely be known, benzo is NOT a downer - hence the non-euphoria stated.
Making it extrememly safe combined with amphetamines in today's age.

Unlike barbs and amphetamines of the 50's.
Just to sort it in easy sumed up terms....to keep thread from looking like we are saying things backwards to some. heh.

swybs

22-02-2005, 05:13

rest in peace and rest high, Hunter.

karloff123

22-02-2005, 07:23

Hunter......you were the master...RIP

blahblahblah

16-04-2005, 08:51

Here are a couple decent books on the matter, not specifically all on pill culture but there is alot about it in the books. Now that this is bumped I'll post another book or two soon as I traack down the titles or rather find the books in my boxs of books...

The early Daze: 1910-1965

Addicts Who Survived: An Oral History of Narcotic Use in America, 1923-1965
By David T. Courtwright et al. Published by University of Tennessee in 1989, this is an absolutely riveting piece of oral history headed up by the historian who wrote "Dark Paradise." Some really great stuff here from old-timer dope fiends who managed not to die

I Was a Drug Addict
By Leroy Street, as told to David Loth. Though not published by Random House until 1953, the same year Burroughs' "Junkie" was published, this memoir covers the decade the author was strungout on heroin, from the early '10s when it was still legal until the mid-20s, when the federal crackdown was in full swing. Though quite moralistic, this is also a priceless piece of period history and well worth tracking down. Was also published in paper by Pyramid in 1954 and as a hardcover in 1973 by Arlington House

Here is one for the 1960's and 70's:

Cookie: The True Story of a Woman Who Had a Compulsion to Try Everything
By Barbara Quinn. Republished in paperback in 1971 by Belmont Tower, with the new title of "Junkie," this is a pretty straightforward account of life as lived by a butch lesbian heroin addict in NYC in the 1960s. Lots of good junkie business, for those who like that kind of stuff.

Howard Street
By Nathan C. Heard. First published in 1968 and later available in a Signet paperback, this was one of the early heroin street novels I read, and so very influential forme, at least. Set in the black ghetto of Newark, or is it Jersey City, this is all a bit turgid, but very well written and well worth reading.

Here's one for the 1930's:

Opium: The Diary of a Cure
By Jean Cocteau. First published in English in 1933, this is a marvelous collection of epigraphs and line drawings by the French writer-director-artist-addict-polymath, assembled during one of his periodic detoxes from smoking opium. A treasure of a book that belongs on any literate junkie's shelves, this is widely available in a variety of editions. Some of Cocteau's apercus about drugs and addiction are very acute.

Here is one for the 1940's:

Dark Paradise: Opiate Addiction in America Before 1940
By David T. Courtwright. Published by Harvard University in 1982, this is a very readable academic account of what it was like back then. Exhaustively researched, this fascinating book suggests that it's never been that great for us dopefiends--legends of a 19th Century Dope Fiends Paradise, notwithstanding--but that the 1914 Harrison Narcotics Act certainly didn't make things any better.

1950's:

Herbert Huncke
By Guilty of Everything. Published in 1990 by Paragon House, this is the autobiography of "Huncke the Junkie," the man who gave William Burroughs his first shot of dope in the 1940s. (He is a character in Burroughs' "Junkie.") Huncke was on opiates most of his life, reporting to the clinic for his meth up until his death in 1996 at age 81. This book is excerpted, along with Huncke's other scattered writings in "The Herbert Huncke Reader" (Quill, 1997)
*this is the 3rd part [book] from Herbert Huncke Reader and it tells the story how Huncke first came to use heroin. It covers a time period from running away from home at age12 to speaking at a university in the late 60's.

Shit the whole Herbert Hunke reader or Guilty of Everything: The Autobiography of Herbert Huncke are great reads.

Mine Enemy Grows Older
By Alexander King. Published in 1958, this book, along with the subsequent "May This House Be Safe From Tigers" (1959) is an anecdotal memoir of King's life. A now-unknown artist and raconteur famous in the 1950s, King was addicted to morphine for years. Lots of good stuff here about forging scripts, dealing with federal agents and detoxing at the Narcotics Farm in Lexington. Both books available used in Signet paperbacks.

Here is one for the 1960's and 70's:

Cookie: The True Story of a Woman Who Had a Compulsion to Try Everything
By Barbara Quinn. Republished in paperback in 1971 by Belmont Tower, with the new title of "Junkie," this is a pretty straightforward account of life as lived by a butch lesbian heroin addict in NYC in the 1960s. Lots of good junkie business, for those who like that kind of stuff.

Howard Street
By Nathan C. Heard. First published in 1968 and later available in a Signet paperback, this was one of the early heroin street novels I read, and so very influential forme, at least. Set in the black ghetto of Newark, or is it Jersey City, this is all a bit turgid, but very well written and well worth reading.

paradoxcycle

16-04-2005, 18:22

Blah, are those books in your big "Heroin Books" thread you posted a while back?

101

16-04-2005, 19:05

Damn I want one of those benzedrine inhalers!

d-ranie

16-04-2005, 21:59

Like someone else said-William s Burroughs talks about scoring different opiates in just about every book. Kerouac also talks a lot about the dexedrine abuse in the late 40's/50's in the series involving Dean. And of course there is always Hunter, who will school you on just about every drug out there. Does anyone know if he used opiates besides for pain? (I mean before his liver transplant and problems in the 4-5 years before he *sob* died.)

davids

17-04-2005, 03:22

I think Hunter prefered booze and stims, but probably used anything around

davids

20-05-2005, 19:04

People where often scripted crazy amounts of Ritalin when it came out in the 50s like 200 mgs. Judy garland used to take up to 45! tabs a day- crazy. Amphetamines were given out like SSRIs now, same with Barbiturates-arr thoes times.

who mE?

21-05-2005, 06:04

Methqualone was made schedule 1 in 1983, and has not appeared on the black market since, due to its high active dose (300mg) making it economically infeasible for a manufacturer to profit off its manufacture.

See www.erowid.org for more info.

Mettray

21-05-2005, 08:13

Originally posted by CreativeRandom
On a different note, has anyone tried quaaludes? Can you describe the experience?

I have taken the cladestinely manufactured ones from South Africa, usually known as Mandrax. They are notorious for being impure and having other downers/etc in them, so don't take my subjective report as gospel or anything, but the two things they most reminded me of were phenobarbitol and alcohol. They gave me that happy-clumsy-drunk feeling, and the usual 'I'll say anything!'-type openness. Whatever I took (in the Mandrax - supposedly straight methaquaalone, but people say the pills are impure), it was more euphoric than phenobarbitol. Phenobarbitol made me drowsy quicker. I am not really a fan of alcohol, as it dehydrates me horribly, so I liked both phenobarbital and methaquaalone better than alcohol. The barbs gave me that messy drunk feeling without the physical liquid slosh in my stomach. Just my experience. Very different from a benzo buzz, more 'messed up' rather than 'calm,' more 'loud drunk' than 'blank Xanax zombie.'

Originally posted by JTMarlin
Reread what I said: Biphetamine was better than Dexedrine. Obetrol was shit, nobody took the stuff. It was strictly a diet pill (all amphetamines were, but it was more so), that's why I hate Adderall...the weight loss/anorectic effects are terrible.

Damn, and I read some posts and looked over at my Adderall and thought I had Andy Warhol's Black Beauties... oh well. At least I love my Adderall. And perhaps the decreased side effects will result in a longer life for me, though I don't count on that by any means.

Originally posted by Synapse999
But should defintely be known, benzo is NOT a downer - hence the non-euphoria stated.
Making it extrememly safe combined with amphetamines in today's age.

Little confused here. Totally not being a dick, but not sure what you mean by 'downer.' Benzos do knock people out, make them clumsy, make them feel uninhibited and so on. Also, some people do catch euphoria off benzos; in particular, I can get a wildly happy buzz off a pipe of weed and a couple Valiums. I agree that they are much, much safer than barbiturates due to the dosage curve; it's a LOT harder to OD on benzos. I agree with you that it is safer to combine benzos with amphetamines than it is to combine barbiturates with amphetamines. But, people still need to watch doses somewhat and not go totally crazy.

And +1 for wishing I also grew up in the 1950s. I think we have better food now though.

Thank you to everyone for the many interesting links and book recommendations! Can this thread be archived?

love
mettray

swybs

21-05-2005, 08:45

mettray, your posts are always welcomed--I just ordered a book--highly recommended, somewhat small scale publishing, out of print shit, but from a drug addicted pharmacist from the 50s...no hearsay here...he made his bread and butter selling. My dad was a greaser, before getting into the -- well, into things --but now he is straight and narrow, and a granddad....

but, yea. I mean--imagine the limited regulations on drugs back in the 50s...well, most of us OD regulars would be dead, or rich, or both.....but, alas, we will never know. But, how times have changed.

BTW, just got off the phone with my dad and he said the big thing in NYC during his time was codeine....pills and liquid, but apparently, these drinkers were looked very down upon. I will try and find out more.

swybs

davids

21-05-2005, 09:14

Mettrey,

This is supposedly SA main drug drug problem. Than 'mandies' can be bought OTC from some DS and they are smoked-many poorer native black SA smoke em and pass out out for a minute then stumble too in a dase-crazy!

davids

21-05-2005, 09:15

Mettrey,

This is supposedly SA main drug drug problem. Than 'mandies' can be bought OTC from some DS and they are smoked.
-many poorer native black SA smoke em and pass out out for a minute then stumble too in a dase-crazy!

The Young Geezer

21-05-2005, 22:55

Oh yeah, the ones smoking out of necks of broken bottles, amd sometimes mix the mandrax with crack? I've been with a chick from souith africa once and I had seen that page about drugs in SA, and I asked her how it was, she was from Durban, she said it wasn't so bad there, but that there were places that the use and method/hygiene were unbelievable...though myself living in South America it ain't such a big surprise

Tri-nity

22-05-2005, 17:27

^^^ South America or South Africa. I dont know of a "durban" South america.

Maybe better start to the day for thoes who dnt like coffee, but need the wake-up.

And tabs up 2 15mgs

davids

23-05-2005, 01:24

Meprobamate began the benzo revolution and the stronger meds began their slide to obsolution, while the amphetamines and some opiods remain, their use was cut by 90% thanks to the 1965 dangerous drugs act .

Pity

The Young Geezer

23-05-2005, 07:11

Originally posted by Tri-nity
^^^ South America or South Africa. I dont know of a "durban" South america.

I live in Buenos Aires,Argentina....she was visiting South America, she was from Durban,South Africa...

davids

23-05-2005, 08:09

As jt marlin said

Fuc* modern medicine bring back the old combos
Dexamyl
desoxyn

all day productive smooth ride,
there should be any med available avaible to help people to live a proper life.

people will benefit and society will be better off.

Barbs
stims
benzos
better ADs

there must be less Doc phobia of fuki* supposed abuse.

DexterMeth

23-05-2005, 10:05

very interesting thread!

Mettray

23-05-2005, 10:33

Originally posted by davids
Meprobamate began the benzo revolution and the stronger meds began their slide to obsolution...

Can you clarify how meprobamate began the benzo revolution when it is not a benzo?

love
mettray

davids

24-05-2005, 00:04

When it came out in the mid 1950s, and sold massively, drug companies worked to create similar drugs to capatilise, Roche with Hoffman created Librium in 1957 as a result, and the first benzo 'Librium' was born. 2 years a new stronger anti-anxiety was created by him,you may have heard of it 'Valium' and was bought to market in 1963, he is still alive and about 96yo.

Thus the benzo revolution began with perhaps 100 or more synthersised derivertives created-abc-pam 123pam

Reguards

davids

24-05-2005, 01:43

Althought 100+ benzos were synthersized, only about 15 are in use now.